With the debate over mayoral control dominating the news over the past month, I’ve been asked why people who live outside the city or don’t have children in the City School District should care.
There are a ton of reasons. They are the same reasons why I’m committed to covering the RCSD.
• The RCSD is the second-largest governmental entity in the area, with a $700 million dollar budget. All of our tax dollars support the RCSD, as a majority of funding comes from the state and federal government.
• The RCSD has 32,000 students.
• The RCSD employs 6,500 people.
• Our community has lost thousands and thousands of jobs. We need the area’s biggest school system to produce entrepreneurs and a skilled work force to bring those jobs back.
• High school dropouts are more likely to commit crime. Your tax dollars pay for prisons. Your loved ones could become a victim of crime.
• Poorly educated people are more likely to need public assistance. Your tax dollars pay welfare benefits.
• The city is the center of our culture and economy. Our region suffers if the city suffers. Our city suffers if the school system produces thousands of drop-outs and under-educated individuals.
• An ailing school system plays a role in the cycle of poverty that has contributed to a high teen pregnancy rate, child abuse, crime, the decline of neighborhoods, and countless other social ills. It’s simply wrong to turn our backs.
The success or failure of the third-largest school system in the state impacts all of us, no matter where you live in the Rochester region. That’s why its fate is so important. That’s why we will continue to hold those running the district accountable.
